[Brian Stone]

Has anyone ever tried to v-groove on a CNC and succeeded?

[Andy Graves]

Yes. You have to calibrate the replane the table nice and smooth. You also need to get that 3M V-Groove tape. It is thicker and really sticky. Don’t remember the number, but someone here will know what the part number is.

You can make one pass but it will be slow. The bit takes out lots of material.

Make sure you cut through the material 100% or you will be left with a bit of chips when you fold it over because it is the thin layer of material. If you can cut into the tape a tiny bit you will have a cleaner finish.

I am not an expert, but did succeed with it a few times.

Hope this helps

[Wayne]

3M’s #355 tape

[Seth Emery]

We have been using the CNC to do v-grooves and v-coves. Do you have a blade on your CNC? We have been using the cutter heads from the dedicated v-groover (broken), and this has worked out pretty well. We have been touching off the tool on a business card.

[Andy Graves]

Good tip with the business card. I folded the tape over and calibrated to that. Not always perfect though, some adjustment is needed to get perfect (at least on my machine).

[Brian Stone]

There’s no saw attachment on the CNC so I’m assuming that we would need to use engraving bits to get the ‘V’ part and some type of cove bit to do the coved portion.

[Andy Graves]

A manufacturer makes a set for the cove splash. I will try to track them down.

[Bill Wolle]

Andy,
Won’t the router cutters for a CNC to do cove take 3 passes? I might invest in the saw blade attachment for the CNCand go Seth’s route.

Bill

[Andy Graves]

Hey Bill,

Yes the cove would take three passes, but I have only done the v-groove to fold over a drop edge.

If you did not perform the operation that often, I think the expense of a saw would not be worth it. I would invest if I though i could produce enough of them.

[Gerard Vanderbas]

If your company has 4th axis capability, a cutting aggregate may be available specifically for V-grooving. It’s my understanding that it takes about three passes. It uses a wheel very specific for v grooving.

[Mike Marks]

I have v-grooved thousands of tops on my cnc. I use a 90 degree single blade insert and do it in one pass with the v-groove blade, but I use a 1/4″ spiral-o to go down to .25 first. With one insert I have gotten 143,190″ (rather freakish I know) on Corian. The feed rate and lead/out is how I achieved this..

[Andy Graves]

Posted By Mike Marks on 16 Aug 2011 06:24 AM

I have v-grooved thousands of tops on my cnc. I use a 90 degree single blade insert and do it in one pass with the v-groove blade, but I use a 1/4″ spiral-o to go down to .25 first. With one insert I have gotten 143,190″ (rather freakish I know) on Corian. The feed rate and lead/out is how I achieved this..

Hey Mike,

That is interesting about the 1/4″ bit first. Do you tape the joint first?

Would you mind sharing the RPM and feed rate?

Thanks in advance,

Andy

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